Wings of Change
by Mirrormine
Summary: In the blink of an eye, Rainbow Dash made a decision and it turned her world upside down. Now she has to figure out how to live life as an Earth Pony even though her heart yearns for the skies she'll never soar through again.


**Wings of Change **  
_Prologue_  
**The Catalyst**

* * *

_"U-um...thank you for taking the time to meet me. I know you're probably super busy and this is really inconvenient for you but I just needed to get it off my chest."_

_"It's no big deal. What was it that you wanted to talk about?"_

_"I just...oh my. Okay Fluttershy, take a deep breath. Focus on what you want to say."_

_"Ah. are you okay?"_

_"Yes! I'm fine, totally fine. I just wanted you to know that I...I think I..."_

_A head tilted curiously, violet eyes watching the pinkette._

_"I love you!"_

* * *

How could she have been so stupid? To think that Rainbow Dash, of all the mares, would be interested in her? Rainbow was talented, beautiful, the pride of Madam Plumcake's Academy for Mare Enrichment. If the other girls weren't fawning over her then they were trying to be her.

She was slim and tall, with muscles that rippled under her blue fur that seemed to ground her as much as they helped her fly.

Not to mention that impressive wingspan.

In short, she was the most beautiful pony Fluttershy had ever seen.

Of course Rainbow wasn't going to like her back! She was all gangly limbs and sharp braces and she had fainted more than a few times when a teacher had called on her to answer a question. Weak and sickly and awkward all over. The epitome of everything a teenager didn't want to be.

The pinkette sniffled a bit as she sat at the edge of the school grounds, hoof repeatedly squishing the moist cloud beneath her as rain-soaked her coat made her hair fall it heavy sheets in front of her face.

Of course, it was raining. It wouldn't not be raining on such a wonderful day like today.

At least the clouds matched her mood. At least she could look down on the lower level far beneath them where the sports field was. Where she could pretend she was watching Rainbow lead her Sky-Track team in drills. Commanding. Laughing.

Giving them the attention that Fluttershy would never see. Obviously didn't deserve either.

No! No. She couldn't...mope here. Maybe she could go home for a short sick leave and cry all her pain out until she could bring herself to push it into the back of her mind and go back to school without feeling like she could die from both heartache and embarrassment.

Flutter pushed herself up, trying to flick her wet locks out of her face but something was wrong. The world was spinning, why was it spinning? She could feel her stomach lurch and her legs give out. She felt weak. So so weak.

She barely heard her name through the rushing wind in her ears.

* * *

**"FLUTTER!"**

* * *

Rainbow Dash shook her short mane, trying to get the small strands from sticking in front of her eyes. She'd recently gotten it cut, it was one less thing to deal with, but the rain didn't seem to care for that reason and wanted to show her that it could sleep be an annoyance.

It was her turn to pack up the equipment from the gym and since the rain seemed to have started early the rest of the outdoor classes had been canceled in favor of an educational movie to be shown in the auditorium.

Bleh.

At least this got her out of part of it. And so what if she happened to drag her hooves a little? Maybe even take some laps on the field. What better way to train for weather conditions than in an actual storm?

Rainbow was practically giving herself a pat on the back when she spotted a yellow figure in front of her. It was the girl, the one that had confessed to her this morning. Flutterby? Flutterfree? It was Flutter-something, she was sure.

The girl was sweet and nice, that much Rainbow was sure of, but they didn't _**know**_ each other. And the blue mare wasn't even sure if she...well if she felt _**that **_way. It was easy to get caught up when all you were surrounded by were mares and besides they were all still young. She just wanted to focus on her team and pushing herself to achieve her dream of being a Wonderbolt.

That didn't mean they couldn't be friends though! Rainbow had tried to tell her that but the girl had run away before any more words could come out of her mouth. Maybe now she could talk to her and smooth things over. Let her know that there were no hard feelings and no reason to be embarrassed. That they could start at square one and be friends.

But as she began to call out to her she saw the yellow pony tumble over the edge of the clouds.

**"FLUTTER!"**

Rainbow called the only part of the mare's name that she could remember as she lunged forward, her hooves tearing across the clouds until she could throw herself over the edge. Flutter was falling fast and Rainbow pumped her wings as hard as she could to catch up to her.

She must have been out cold though, she was falling like dead weight. No resistance. Even her wings were limp.

The sports field bellow was zooming in fast and even though it was on another layer of clouds it had a smooth track set into it, with goalposts cemented into those with the help of a Unicorn contractor.

If Flutter were to hit the clouds it might smart but it wouldn't hurt quite as bad to a Pegasi as it would to hit the track. That...wouldn't be good at all.

With rain stinging her eyes and the wind whipping and howling around them, Rainbow Dash reached out her hooves and managed to grab the other pony. She jerked her into an embrace, curling her taller body around the smaller one. She'd just managed to wrap one wing around Fluttershy before her shoulder collided with one of the goalposts and a searing pain shot through her body. The sound of tearing and crunching was lost to a clap of thunder that faded after swallowing up a cry of pain.

Her body ached and her head felt no better. Fluttershy felt like she'd been hit by a train (they'd learned about them in class and the seemed heavy and scary) and her nose dribbled a little, no doubt a cold already forming.

"An ambulance in on its way, everybody stay back and give them some room!"

Ambulance? What was going on?

Weakly she opened her eyes, her vision taking a mix of blue, red, and the black of the pavement she was laying on.

What? Why was she on the track? She'd been looking at it, sure, but she was positive she'd been up on the school level. She'd felt dizzy...tired...had she fainted again?

Oh, Celestia, was she hurt? She felt hurt, but she didn't feel that hurt.

Weakly she drew her legs up under her body, trying to push herself up.

"Sweetie, just lay still. It's okay. Help will be here for you and your friend soon okay? Just stay still..."

Fluttershy moved her head sluggishly trying to focus on the teacher, then trying to focus on who else the teacher was talking about. Her mind went blank as she stared at the limp form beside her, her functions seeming to shut down.

Sky blue fur was dyed in a thick coat of red that even managed to speckle itself over rainbow hues.

It wasn't until she saw the blue wing laying a few yards away that she opened her mouth and a scream filled the air.


End file.
